The explosion sent debris and pieces of Vong flying in every direction just as the Jedi ducked behind a cargo container.
"Well that was good," said Kyp, waiting for the shrapnel to stop flying, "Now how are we getting out of here? That explosion probably did wonders to the X-wings."
Phaelon smiled smugly. "That's why I had Drifter have your droid put the shields up. Mine probably couldn't take it, but yours probably did." Assuring themselves no more shrapnel was flying, the Jedi raised up from their position to look around.
The blast had decimated most of the building, including Phaelon's X-wing and Drifter, for which she felt a pang of regret.
"Come on," said Kyp, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the X-wings.
"If you haven't noticed, there's only one of them," she protested. "Just get out of here before that damned Hutt brings the Vong down in force."
Kyp turned back on her and shook his head. "I didn't come all this way just to have you get killed now. You're coming too."
She rolled her eyes. "Those are built for one person if you haven't realized."
"Yes, I know. If two people can fit in a stylus ship, two people can fit in an X-wing," he explained, using the Force to leap into the cockpit and shoving the pilot's couch all the way back. "Are you coming, or not?"
Reluctantly, she grabbed his offered hand and pulled herself up. There's more room in here than I thought, she mused, settling herself between Kyp and the control stick.
"You've got the pedals," he told her, his voice closer to her ear than she would have preferred. "Try not to get us killed."
She elbowed him in the stomach as the engines came on-line.
With the canopy closed, the cockpit became a lot smaller. Flying was still not wholly impossible, but it meant Phaelon was a lot closer to Kyp than she really wanted to be. She jumped when he wrapped his arms around her to grab the controls. "You're going to have to relax, or this is going to be a very long trip," he teased.
Drunkenly, the X-wing rose on its repulsors and emerged from the hangar just as several dozen more guards entered. They ducked as the engines engaged and the X-wing pointed towards the stars.
Phaelon wanted to hit him as the X-wing rocketed upwards, pressing her back into Kyp. While he flew, she checked out the hyperspace coordinates charted by his astromech droid. "A short hop to Yinchorr," she said, "then a really long one to Kashyyyk. We're not heading through any currently-Vong territory, but there's still a chance of dovin mines."
He nodded. "Think you can deal with me that long?"
"I'll just leave you at Yinchorr if you get too annoying."
"Do us a favor and pull those levers. At this rate we'll be dead before we get there."
Reaching forward, she grabbed the two levers and the X-wing shot into hyperspace.
OO
A little over an hour later, the X-wing emerged out of hyperspace near Yinchorr. They had made the first leg of the trip without being attacked by the Vong, a possibility that had very low survivability prospects seeing as neither of them were wearing their life-support gear or even a simple helmet. It still wasn't the most comfortable place, but Phaelon had finally decided she was probably more comfortable than Kyp, who actually made a pretty decent pillow.
"Ready?" she asked as the fighter maneuvered into their course change and accelerated up to lightspeed.
"I got no where else to be. Might as well be comfortable." One arm left the controls and snaked around her waist.
She scowled and tried to turn to hit him, but found she couldn't without jabbing herself in the back with the console. Instead, she settled for wiggling back and squashing him against the pilot's couch.
"Ouch." In revenge, he pinched her side, making her arch her back and squeak in surprise.
The motion brought her head back to lean against his shoulder, so their faces were mere centimeters apart. She could smell the spicy scent of him and see the beginnings of silver in his dark hair. Something snapped in a part of her brain she wasn't accustomed to using, and she averted her eyes to the swirling colors of hyperspace outside the tinted canopy.
Phaelon's first thought that it was Kyp playing with something in her head, and she slammed down her shields. But the slightly nagging feeling continued uninterrupted. "You mynock!" she complained, elbowing him in the stomach. "Get out of my head!"
He raised an eyebrow. "In order to get out, I'd have to be in there in the first place."
She frowned and turned, trying to hit him. This time, he grabbed her wrist and wouldn't let go. "Let go."
"No. You're just going to hit me again."
"Exactly." She wrenched her arm around, but he kept his grip. As she couldn't get proper leverage seated as she was, she pulled her knees up to her chest and turned to that she was straddling him with her back to the controls.
"Impressive."
"Can I have my hand back now?"
He considered it for a moment, but held on. "No. You still want to hit me, and it might actually start to hurt after a while."
With a snarl, she lashed out with her other hand and nearly caught a handful of his hair had he not pulled back at the last moment. On her backswing, he grabbed the wrist and shook his head.
Somehow she got the feeling he was teasing her. Well then, two could play that game.
Smirking deviously, she inched farther onto his lap. "Might as well be comfortable," she whispered mockingly, bringing her face close to his. "Looks like I'm not going anywhere for a while."